Remnants

Woo! Saturday! Boxing Friday... kinda... Ok, that's maybe a bit of a stretch, but waddyagonnado? Seeing as it is Saturday, that means you want to see some reviews. Well, that's what I'm here to give y

Woo! Saturday! Boxing Friday... kinda... Ok, that's maybe a bit of a stretch, but waddyagonnado? Seeing as it is Saturday, that means you want to see some reviews. Well, that's what I'm here to give you.

Today we have: Remnants, After the Virus, Missile Command, My Little Scythe, and Endogenesis (can you tell a lot of reviewers were out of town last week?).

The world as we know has been shattered. Bands of roving marauders litter the landscape as the scattered remains of civilization eke out a meager existence in harsh land. But enough about the current world events. Let’s take a closer look at Remnants.

It’s 2018 and there is no shortage of deck building games in the tabletop hobby. There also exists little scarcity of zombie-themed games. So new titles wading into the shambling masses of either category risk derivative styling unless they bring something new to the table. In regards to the former, can the design rise above the monotony of “play cards, pick a card, shuffle?” And with respect to the latter, will its mechanics capture the narrative struggle of heroic sacrifice and survival amidst inexorable hopelessness…yet still prove playable? It’s a tall order.

In Missile Command, the latest entry into IDW’s series based on classic Atari games, each player controls six cities. From there they build and deploy missiles, nukes, or countermeasures, hoping to protect their own city while destroying their opponents. Players can negotiate temporary alliances and plot secret attacks before destruction rains down from above.

Missile Command is a deployment and negotiation game for 3 to 6 players that lasts about 30-40 mins. It plays best with 5-6 players.

Turns in My Little Scythe proceed around the table from the start with each player taking a single action. The only catch is that the action cannot be the exact same action as their previous turn. Turns go by fast as players utilize very compartmentalized moves, attacks, and builds.

Players in Endogenesis are cosmic beings who have traveled across an “infant realm” searching for “answers to questions still unknown”. When these beings encounter each other, it appears there is conflict and the stage for a magical battle game is set. The players are competing with one another for “prisms”, tokens which act as a victory point. A player who earns 3 of these wins the game. Along the way, players can focus on powering up abilities and dealing doom to other players as follows.